Chapter 148: Chapter 148: Shrinking the Survival Range
"Wow, that’s amazing. Truly amazing."
"What is it? What’s happening?" Li Dawei stared into the pitch-black distance, where only a faint glimmer of light flickered in the night.
He couldn’t see a thing.
"Xiang, that Visual Ability of yours is incredible," Li Dawei said with a laugh. "You can actually see that far. Quick, tell your big bro what’s happening."
"I see Chen Juan’s man. Several men are ganging up on Tie Zhu’s dad. They’re robbing him!" Li Xiang pressed against the glass as she watched. "They smashed a hole in Tie Zhu’s dad’s head—damn."
"It’s that serious," Li Dawei said, stunned.
"There’s something wrong with this rain," Li Xiang said suddenly, a hint of terror in her eyes. "They’ve all collapsed in the rain."
"It’s over. They’re going to turn into zombies." Li Dawei shuddered, pulling his sister from the window and immediately drawing the curtains.
It was as if those people who had collapsed in the rain were about to charge into their home at any moment.
"Bro, I have a... really bad feeling about this."
「September 19th, 7:00 AM.」
Xie Ning was jolted awake by the sound of zombies roaring.
She thought that after she had fallen asleep, *My Date with a Zombie* was still playing.
When she opened her eyes, the bedroom was pitch-black. With two layers of curtains drawn, not a sliver of light penetrated the room.
Xie Ning rolled out of bed, walked to the window, lifted a corner of the curtain to look outside, and her gaze suddenly froze.
With her eyesight, she could see the zombie milling about her front gate with perfect clarity.
When the zombie turned its head, Xie Ning saw a large gaping hole in its skull. Its one remaining milky-white eye was practically dangling from the socket, and scraps of flesh hung from the corners of its mouth.
’How disgusting!’
Xie Ning let the curtain fall and pressed a hand to her chest.
She suddenly paused, turning her head to look at the zombie in front of the iron gate again.
"Mom, Mom!"
Song You’ai, fully armed, twisted the doorknob and burst in. "Daughter, don’t be scared! There’s a zombie at the gate. Mom will go deal with it."
"Mom, come look. Doesn’t this look like Tie Zhu’s dad, Uncle Song Gao?"
"Song Gao?" Song You’ai was stunned, and she quickly pulled open a sliver of the curtain.
Down below, the male zombie was pounding on their iron gate. But thanks to the sharp spikes on the gate, it only managed to pierce itself over and over with each strike.
But the zombie felt nothing; it only smelled the scent of humans.
Song You’ai’s expression grew grim as she studied it for a moment. "It really does look like him."
"How could this happen?" Song You’ai sighed in grief. "Heavens, don’t tell me something happened to Song Gao’s family, too?"
"Did you hear the commotion at 11 last night?"
"What commotion?" Song You’ai looked completely blank. "I was practicing my Water Ability all night. I filled at least seven or eight buckets, big and small, and then conked out as soon as my head hit the pillow."
Xie Ning: ...
"There was another disturbance in the village last night. It looks like it was coming from Uncle Song Gao’s shop." Xie Ning summoned the Heavenly Blade from her Space. "I’ll go take care of him."
"Let Mom go instead," Song You’ai said hesitantly.
"Did you hear the heavy rain last night?"
"No..."
Xie Ning was speechless.
’Well, Mom’s a pretty sound sleeper.’
"There’s definitely something wrong with this rainwater. Be careful when we go down." Xie Ning headed downstairs, blade in hand.
By the time the mother and daughter duo reached the door, Song Gao had already spun around and charged toward Li Dawei’s house across the street.
Xie Ning pulled open the door, only to see the back of the zombie as it charged into Li Dawei’s yard.
Song You’ai covered her mouth, not daring to speak loudly. "How is he running so fast?"
’The zombies that used to shamble along, looking like they’d fall over after two steps, have gotten faster!’
"It’s the rain from the last few days." A heavy weight settled in Xie Ning’s heart.
These sudden downpours could make the living conditions for humanity even worse.
High temperatures, viral rain, and shortages of drinking water and food—each factor was drastically reducing humanity’s chances of survival.
Yesterday’s downpour must have created countless more zombies.
The number of humans was plummeting, while the number of zombies was growing.
The space where humans could live and move would only become smaller and smaller!
Li Dawei burst out of his villa door, looking bizarre. He was wearing a raincoat with pot lids tied to his chest and back with hemp rope.
As Xie Ning watched him viciously smash the zombie with an iron hammer, her opinion of the idiot improved ever so slightly.
After all, since the apocalypse began, there weren’t many people who dared to fight a zombie alone.
"Dawei is protecting the two women in his home, running out alone to kill a zombie. He’s acting like a real man," Song You’ai muttered under her breath.
As if reminded of something, Song You’ai’s eyes grew slightly red.
Xie Ning turned and squeezed her mother’s hand. "Mom, Ningning will protect you. We don’t need anyone else."
’What does a father matter? As long as Ningning is strong enough, that’s all that counts!’
’Ningning and Mom don’t need that man’s protection at all.’
After Li Dawei finished off Song Gao, he glared at them with raised eyebrows. "What are you looking at! This is all your fault! You hacked up our iron gate, and now zombies can come and go as they please!"
Song You’ai was speechless. ’Who’s even looking at him?’
"Bro!" Li Xiang threw open the door and rushed out, shivering uncontrollably. "Bro, I saw over a dozen zombies heading toward Number 59."
Xie Ning glanced at Li Xiang. "Did you awaken a Visual Ability?"
’Number 59 is nowhere near here.’
Li Xiang glared at Xie Ning. "None of your business."
"Bro, what do we do now?"
Li Dawei tightened his grip on the hammer. "What else can we do? We go help!"
"Bro!"
"Yesterday’s rain must have turned all the robbers from Number 13 into zombies." Li Dawei pulled his sister and started running. "If all the living people in the community turn into zombies, we won’t be able to escape either!"
Song You’ai’s jaw dropped. "I’m surprised. That kid, Dawei, actually has some sense."
Xie Ning watched the siblings run past. She had just started to raise her hand when Li Dawei and Li Xiang both rolled their eyes at her. "Just shut up!"
The two of them ran off, one after the other. Xie Ning lowered her hand, her expression blank, and walked silently into the yard across the street with her lips pressed tightly together.
She successfully dug a Crystal Core out of Uncle Song Gao’s head, then turned around to see her mom vomiting, leaning against a tree for support.
"I was going to tell them about this." Xie Ning gestured with the filthy Crystal Core in her hand, then had her mother rinse it with a small ball of water.
Song You’ai truly admired her daughter for being able to rummage through a pile of mush without batting an eye.
"Daughter, let’s go check on your third grand-uncle’s house too." Song You’ai was still worried after all.
Her third grand-uncle, Song Yufu, was a soft-hearted, good old soul who had taken in many people since the apocalypse began.
Although he only sheltered them for a day or two until rescue arrived, he was still a rare example of a truly good person.
Xie Ning nodded. "Let’s go."
’If they were going to keep living in this village, they couldn’t just let it turn into a zombie playground.’
’Li Dawei had a point. Having fewer living people around wasn’t a good thing for them.’
By the time the mother and daughter arrived at Number 59, a bloody melee was already underway inside the villa.
A limping zombie tackled a young man to the ground, its sharp teeth sinking into his throat with a single bite.
